One month into speech therapy and Hailey is more willing to try to say the correct words when prompted. Two syllable words followed by another word is what she currently struggles with the most, so it is great that she is trying (this was taped on her 5th or 6th attempt). They said practice is what will eventually get her to say these words spontaneously. Personally I count any progress at all as a victory! Way to go, Hailey!
Saturday, December 31, 2011
Thursday, December 22, 2011
Wednesday, December 21, 2011
Update On Hailey
Poor Hailey has had quite a few diagnoses come through in the last year. I would be lying if I didn't say I feel a little overwhelmed by all of it. She's really only gone through one other issue and that was the torticollis/plagiocephaly when she was an infant. That was easy because the two issues were connected, had a simple explanation (traumatic birth), and required a simple fix (daily stretches). She was close to needing a helmet but we didn't get to that stage and even though the doctor was a little concerned because she felt Hailey's features were starting to slightly distort, once we fixed the torticollis, the plagiocephaly cleared right up with no lasting problems. Although the first three are linked, these new diagnoses are not going to be as simple.
Her first diagnosis came this spring: severe eczema. The issue with this problem is that there can be a multitude of issues that cause this condition, or it can be nothing. That means that investigating the issue, while possibly worthy, could also leave us empty-handed. The treatment includes topical steroids and oral anti-itch medicine, which I am not fond of but she is so miserable that we do it anyway. She can grow out of this condition. Most kids grow out of it by 5-7.
While investigating, we started with the possibility that made the most sense: environmental allergies. This made the most sense because her eczema seemed to come and go with the seasons last year. When eczema is usually at its worst (winter), it was completely healed. The second that the pollen count went up, it started again. The allergist did indeed give us the second diagnosis: environmental allergies. We found her to be allergic to pollen, dust, ragweed, some trees, some grasses, cats, and dogs. We don't have pets and I try to keep the dust to a minimum. She obviously can't stop breathing so that was the extent of what we could do. Any reasonable suggestion I found, we tried. This is not a condition she will grow out of and in fact the allergist said this gave her a 50% chance of growing into asthma. Regardless, it seemed linked to the eczema, and we spent all summer in a losing battle against the eczema.
We were referred to a pediatric dermatologist at this point. The dermatologist asked for a food allergy testing because she said kids this young rarely have environmental allergies, and if she has those, she probably also has food allergies. Since the allergist had been pushing for it anyway, we finally conceded to the food allergy testing. We did the testing and walked away with her third diagnosis for the year: food allergies. The test showed soy, bananas, green beans, carrots, cucumbers, mustard, scallops, oysters, and clams. Now we had something that we could eliminate. We eliminated everything except soy with no issues but continue to struggle to eliminate the soy completely because it is in EVERYTHING. Seriously, soy farmers can not be hurting. Anyway, she should most likely outgrow these food allergies (with the possible exception of the shellfish, although she has never had any of those) and elimination is the only way to treat them. The (mostly complete) elimination seems to have helped, but the environmental allergies died off too so who knows which caused the decrease in eczema flares but I am happy to be using less prescription medication at the moment. It continues to be an ongoing battle but the more we learn, the more we can hopefully help.
Her last diagnosis came today: mild childhood apraxia of speech. She has been having some speech issues pretty much since she started talking, but she was always so borderline, it was difficult to determine if she needed help or not. It always felt like something that could go either way - either it could get worse or it could get significantly better and she would catch up. Well, we finally decided to have her tested and as you read before, they did find her slightly delayed. Today, during her second speech therapy session, the therapist and I were talking after Hailey was really struggling to put together two words when the first word had two syllables. The therapist said for the second time that she really feels it is a motor sync issue - her mouth and her brain aren't syncing up. She said there is a test she can do to be sure, but she thinks that it is most likely childhood apraxia of speech. The good news about this is that Hailey has a mild to mild-moderate case, this particular issue does not lead to later issues, and this issue is solvable with practice. In other words, Hailey is perfectly capable of saying the words, she just has to work harder to practice her words so she knows them well enough to call them up without a glitch between her brain and mouth. This glitch is causing her to drop the end consonants and to struggle putting correct sentences together because it is easier to just drop when that information isn't right there. The bad news is that kids with this issue aren't like other speech therapy kids - they don't just learn a sound and then can repeat it from there on out. She may master the "sh" sound in one word and still not be able to use it in another word. There is a chance that we will have to work with her individually on many, many words. The other bad news is that the therapist basically said there is no way she will qualify for speech therapy through the school in 3 months. She is not nearly delayed enough and kids who are much more delayed than she is don't qualify because the school only cares about school issues. If she can communicate, even if it is hard to understand, she won't make it. She did say that private therapy is available and she could give us a recommendation if Hailey doesn't catch up by her third birthday. She also said that she had put through the work order to switch Hailey to weekly therapy, which hopefully gets approved and goes through sooner rather than later.
I am thankful for all the doctors and therapists who put in all the time to help come up with all these diagnoses, even if they do feel daunting at the moment. Now that we know what we are dealing with, we can formulate a plan and hopefully help our baby girl. My Christmas wish is that by this time next year, she is speaking clearly and her eczema is under control. Here's hoping!
Her first diagnosis came this spring: severe eczema. The issue with this problem is that there can be a multitude of issues that cause this condition, or it can be nothing. That means that investigating the issue, while possibly worthy, could also leave us empty-handed. The treatment includes topical steroids and oral anti-itch medicine, which I am not fond of but she is so miserable that we do it anyway. She can grow out of this condition. Most kids grow out of it by 5-7.
While investigating, we started with the possibility that made the most sense: environmental allergies. This made the most sense because her eczema seemed to come and go with the seasons last year. When eczema is usually at its worst (winter), it was completely healed. The second that the pollen count went up, it started again. The allergist did indeed give us the second diagnosis: environmental allergies. We found her to be allergic to pollen, dust, ragweed, some trees, some grasses, cats, and dogs. We don't have pets and I try to keep the dust to a minimum. She obviously can't stop breathing so that was the extent of what we could do. Any reasonable suggestion I found, we tried. This is not a condition she will grow out of and in fact the allergist said this gave her a 50% chance of growing into asthma. Regardless, it seemed linked to the eczema, and we spent all summer in a losing battle against the eczema.
We were referred to a pediatric dermatologist at this point. The dermatologist asked for a food allergy testing because she said kids this young rarely have environmental allergies, and if she has those, she probably also has food allergies. Since the allergist had been pushing for it anyway, we finally conceded to the food allergy testing. We did the testing and walked away with her third diagnosis for the year: food allergies. The test showed soy, bananas, green beans, carrots, cucumbers, mustard, scallops, oysters, and clams. Now we had something that we could eliminate. We eliminated everything except soy with no issues but continue to struggle to eliminate the soy completely because it is in EVERYTHING. Seriously, soy farmers can not be hurting. Anyway, she should most likely outgrow these food allergies (with the possible exception of the shellfish, although she has never had any of those) and elimination is the only way to treat them. The (mostly complete) elimination seems to have helped, but the environmental allergies died off too so who knows which caused the decrease in eczema flares but I am happy to be using less prescription medication at the moment. It continues to be an ongoing battle but the more we learn, the more we can hopefully help.
Her last diagnosis came today: mild childhood apraxia of speech. She has been having some speech issues pretty much since she started talking, but she was always so borderline, it was difficult to determine if she needed help or not. It always felt like something that could go either way - either it could get worse or it could get significantly better and she would catch up. Well, we finally decided to have her tested and as you read before, they did find her slightly delayed. Today, during her second speech therapy session, the therapist and I were talking after Hailey was really struggling to put together two words when the first word had two syllables. The therapist said for the second time that she really feels it is a motor sync issue - her mouth and her brain aren't syncing up. She said there is a test she can do to be sure, but she thinks that it is most likely childhood apraxia of speech. The good news about this is that Hailey has a mild to mild-moderate case, this particular issue does not lead to later issues, and this issue is solvable with practice. In other words, Hailey is perfectly capable of saying the words, she just has to work harder to practice her words so she knows them well enough to call them up without a glitch between her brain and mouth. This glitch is causing her to drop the end consonants and to struggle putting correct sentences together because it is easier to just drop when that information isn't right there. The bad news is that kids with this issue aren't like other speech therapy kids - they don't just learn a sound and then can repeat it from there on out. She may master the "sh" sound in one word and still not be able to use it in another word. There is a chance that we will have to work with her individually on many, many words. The other bad news is that the therapist basically said there is no way she will qualify for speech therapy through the school in 3 months. She is not nearly delayed enough and kids who are much more delayed than she is don't qualify because the school only cares about school issues. If she can communicate, even if it is hard to understand, she won't make it. She did say that private therapy is available and she could give us a recommendation if Hailey doesn't catch up by her third birthday. She also said that she had put through the work order to switch Hailey to weekly therapy, which hopefully gets approved and goes through sooner rather than later.
I am thankful for all the doctors and therapists who put in all the time to help come up with all these diagnoses, even if they do feel daunting at the moment. Now that we know what we are dealing with, we can formulate a plan and hopefully help our baby girl. My Christmas wish is that by this time next year, she is speaking clearly and her eczema is under control. Here's hoping!
Friday, December 16, 2011
A Strange Sight!
In December, at least!
We saw this while dropping Hannah off for kindergarten! I am glad I stopped and took the picture at her actual school because it was gone almost as quickly as it appeared. Beautiful!
We saw this while dropping Hannah off for kindergarten! I am glad I stopped and took the picture at her actual school because it was gone almost as quickly as it appeared. Beautiful!Thursday, December 15, 2011
Preparing For Christmas
We were out of town for Thanksgiving and have been really busy this season, so we hadn't had a chance to put up our tree yet. It has also been so unseasonably warm, it hasn't felt much like the holidays anyway but we finally got around to buying and then trimming our tree.
Hannah helped by putting hangers on the ornaments (unfortunately she tripped and broke this ornament just a few seconds later - this was an ornament that Rob and I got on our European trip back in college):
Hailey helped by hanging the ornaments:
Daddy and Hannah hanging some more ornaments:
And putting the angel on top of the tree:
Hannah helped by putting hangers on the ornaments (unfortunately she tripped and broke this ornament just a few seconds later - this was an ornament that Rob and I got on our European trip back in college):
Hailey helped by hanging the ornaments:
Daddy and Hannah hanging some more ornaments:
And putting the angel on top of the tree:
Ready for Santa!
Merry Christmas!!!
Wednesday, December 7, 2011
Hailey's First Speech Therapy
Her first appointment went well! I think the speech therapist did the same thing a lot of people in her field do - she walked in and Hailey immediately began with some of her words and the therapist was like "she talks pretty well." She even asked if Hailey was getting other therapies (I think she thought Hailey wasn't delayed enough to only be receiving one therapy). However, since she actually knows what she is doing, she did catch on to the problems by the end. She started saying "oh she really does drop the end of every word" and "does she just say the same phrases over and over again?" and "she really blocks her words a lot, doesn't she?" She also heard that Hailey isn't making sentences really. The therapist kept saying "can you say "I want the ball?" and Hailey would say "ball" and the therapist would repeat and the most she could ever get Hailey to say was "want ball" unless she broke it down word by word to repeat. Even then, once Hailey said it word by word, the therapist would say "I want the ball" and Hailey would say "ball!" LOL Anyway, she thinks it is actually not a speech delay but a brain to mouth connection issue of some sort. She thinks Hailey has the ability to say the words because she says them if they are broken down but doesn't say them correctly independently. Basically, she drops the end of the word because it is easier and she is struggling to get the words out. She said that also accounts for her putting "a" in a lot of her phrases (that aren't learned phrases from Hannah) - there is a brief delay between her brain and her mouth. She thinks Hailey is trying and even understands that she should be saying more, which accounts for putting "ma" and "please" on to a lot of 2 word phrases. The therapist thinks it is just a matter of practice to solidify that connection and is even going to try to get Hailey bumped up to weekly therapy because she feels that this problem could be correctable by age 3, which is something I would really like if possible.
I was very pleased with the first meeting!
Wednesday, November 2, 2011
Tuesday, November 1, 2011
Hannah's First Lost Tooth!
What is missing from this picture?
That's right, a tooth! Hannah lost her very first tooth today. It is the bottom right tooth (from her viewpoint). It has been loose for a few weeks but honestly wasn't all that loose. It probably still had weeks, if not months, before it was going to fall out. However, this morning, it got a little extra push. Hannah and Hailey were wrestling around and playing, and they both had suckers from their Halloween candy that they were eating. I put a stop to this because I didn't want someone to accidently choke while playing, so they had set down their suckers. Hannah decided to take a little break to eat her sucker but apparently Hailey did not get the memo. As soon as Hannah put her sucker in her mouth, Hailey clobbered her from the side, causing her sucker to hit her loose tooth. She started screaming because there was some blood and when I looked at the tooth, it was both sideways and barely in there. I pulled the tooth out quickly and Hannah was suddenly fine after she was reminded that the tooth fairy was now going to come. The tooth fairy is going to pay $5 tonight for her 1st (somewhat traumatic) lost tooth, but then the rate goes down to $1 for each subsequent tooth. Hannah is so excited to tell her class tomorrow!
That's right, a tooth! Hannah lost her very first tooth today. It is the bottom right tooth (from her viewpoint). It has been loose for a few weeks but honestly wasn't all that loose. It probably still had weeks, if not months, before it was going to fall out. However, this morning, it got a little extra push. Hannah and Hailey were wrestling around and playing, and they both had suckers from their Halloween candy that they were eating. I put a stop to this because I didn't want someone to accidently choke while playing, so they had set down their suckers. Hannah decided to take a little break to eat her sucker but apparently Hailey did not get the memo. As soon as Hannah put her sucker in her mouth, Hailey clobbered her from the side, causing her sucker to hit her loose tooth. She started screaming because there was some blood and when I looked at the tooth, it was both sideways and barely in there. I pulled the tooth out quickly and Hannah was suddenly fine after she was reminded that the tooth fairy was now going to come. The tooth fairy is going to pay $5 tonight for her 1st (somewhat traumatic) lost tooth, but then the rate goes down to $1 for each subsequent tooth. Hannah is so excited to tell her class tomorrow!
Monday, October 31, 2011
Hailey's Evaluation
Today, First Steps evaluated Hailey for speech and she qualified for speech therapy. I had taken some video of her speaking as she normally does just in case she spent the entire time talking in her "catch phrases" (phrases the she learned verbatim from Hannah) but I didn't even have to pull out my recording. They very clearly saw what I was telling them: the jibberish, the jumbled sentences, the lack of articulation, the lack of names or descriptor words. They also saw her show off all her other skills - they basically got a very good snapshot of exactly Hailey, which is what I have wanted all along. I didn't care if they qualified her for services or not as long as they qualified or disqualified her based on an accurate picture of the way she speaks daily. They definitely got an accurate picture of her overall. They said that she is off the charts in fine motor, gross motor, problem solving, attention span, language reception, words, and social skills. The only problem is social language (speaking to others so her wants and needs are met). They said that honestly if she hadn't scored so high in every other category, she would be borderline but since they look at development as an overall picture, someone as intelligent as she is should be speaking in full and clear sentences, and there is clearly some sort of disconnect between her abilities and her speech. The final meeting is set for Nov 15 and therapy should start pretty much immediately after. I have heard nothing but rave reviews about First Steps so I'm hoping that in the next 5 months, we can catch her up and she can easily transition into the same preschool as Hannah went.
Sunday, October 30, 2011
My Silly Sweet Girl
Two is such a fun age. Yes, there is a reason they call it "terrible 2s" and we have really experienced it more this time around because Hailey isn't as verbal as Hannah was (which leads to more frustrations), but in so many ways, it's really also the "terrific 2s." They are so fun and silly (often unintentionally) and sweet.
Hailey loves to laugh and she has started making silly faces at us.
She has become obsessed with songs. It's adorable to watch her singing all these songs (favorites: If You're Happy And You Know It, Baa Baa Black Sheep, Itsy Bitsy Spider, and ABCs). It's even better if you knew that from the time she was about 9 months old until just a few weeks ago, any singing on my part was met with her hand over my mouth and sometimes a "no!" Ha!
She now occasionally tells me she loves me, although she hasn't really said it anyone else. It's also very spontaneous which makes it extra sweet.
She's both incredibly cuddly and severely independent. She will redo anything that she wanted to do if Mommy had the audicity to do it for her but she still asks to be held and wants to snuggle often.
She loves soup. She loves to eat and drink it and it seems like she would eat it at every meal if I let her. She likes every soup I've made so far: broccoli, vegetable, tomato, white chili, etc. I think she just likes the idea of drinking her food. It's funny watching her try to guide this huge spoon in her cute little mouth.
She wants to climb and explore everything, which is both awesome that she shows no fear and tiring since I spend all day telling her to stay off the furniture.
She has that cute toddler cheesey smile where she is more showing her teeth than smiling in pictures.
She dances, even if there is no music.
She plays pretend a lot, dressing up in heels or acting like a cat, and loves with others join in. She likes to join into Hannah's fun by playing monsters, tackling, or letting Hannah carry her.
She is still very attached to her bear and blankie and it's cute watching her drag them places. We have discovered though that she is excellent at hiding her bear and I'm about to install some type of tracking device since she refuses to close her eyes unless she is holding both bear and blankie.
She never doubts that Mommy or Daddy will catch her. Kisses make all boo-boos immediately better.
She just became afraid of the dark. Anyone who has kids knows this phase is both heartbreaking and also kinda adorable. Hailey says "scares me!" when she's afraid and comes running into my arms. However, since she now sleeps with the door open (a recent development), she knows she can come in our room if she needs something. She doesn't use it often but two nights ago, I started to stir because I felt breathing on my face at 2am. I jumped after she yelled "ma, wake up!" 2 inches from my face. LOL, talk about a heart attack!
She understands everything and soaks it all in. She tries hard to communicate her needs and wants to us, which are becoming easier to understand.
She waves bye to everyone and is just so friendly and sweet. She loves babies and kitties (which would explain the "Aristocat" obsession). She tries to pet both whenever she sees them. She also loves to point things out, particularly babies and kitties.
She shares better than any other 2 year old I've ever met.
She's all in on her emotions. She's giggling or screaming. She's smiling or crying. She's laughing or pouting. Luckily for us, it's usually the firsts.
She has a sweet smile and a hilarious fake laugh. She loves to jump and run and be part of everything.
This is just such a fun and funny age! I love it! ♥
Hailey loves to laugh and she has started making silly faces at us.
She has become obsessed with songs. It's adorable to watch her singing all these songs (favorites: If You're Happy And You Know It, Baa Baa Black Sheep, Itsy Bitsy Spider, and ABCs). It's even better if you knew that from the time she was about 9 months old until just a few weeks ago, any singing on my part was met with her hand over my mouth and sometimes a "no!" Ha!
She now occasionally tells me she loves me, although she hasn't really said it anyone else. It's also very spontaneous which makes it extra sweet.
She's both incredibly cuddly and severely independent. She will redo anything that she wanted to do if Mommy had the audicity to do it for her but she still asks to be held and wants to snuggle often.
She loves soup. She loves to eat and drink it and it seems like she would eat it at every meal if I let her. She likes every soup I've made so far: broccoli, vegetable, tomato, white chili, etc. I think she just likes the idea of drinking her food. It's funny watching her try to guide this huge spoon in her cute little mouth.
She wants to climb and explore everything, which is both awesome that she shows no fear and tiring since I spend all day telling her to stay off the furniture.
She has that cute toddler cheesey smile where she is more showing her teeth than smiling in pictures.
She dances, even if there is no music.
She plays pretend a lot, dressing up in heels or acting like a cat, and loves with others join in. She likes to join into Hannah's fun by playing monsters, tackling, or letting Hannah carry her.
She is still very attached to her bear and blankie and it's cute watching her drag them places. We have discovered though that she is excellent at hiding her bear and I'm about to install some type of tracking device since she refuses to close her eyes unless she is holding both bear and blankie.
She never doubts that Mommy or Daddy will catch her. Kisses make all boo-boos immediately better.
She just became afraid of the dark. Anyone who has kids knows this phase is both heartbreaking and also kinda adorable. Hailey says "scares me!" when she's afraid and comes running into my arms. However, since she now sleeps with the door open (a recent development), she knows she can come in our room if she needs something. She doesn't use it often but two nights ago, I started to stir because I felt breathing on my face at 2am. I jumped after she yelled "ma, wake up!" 2 inches from my face. LOL, talk about a heart attack!
She understands everything and soaks it all in. She tries hard to communicate her needs and wants to us, which are becoming easier to understand.
She waves bye to everyone and is just so friendly and sweet. She loves babies and kitties (which would explain the "Aristocat" obsession). She tries to pet both whenever she sees them. She also loves to point things out, particularly babies and kitties.
She shares better than any other 2 year old I've ever met.
She's all in on her emotions. She's giggling or screaming. She's smiling or crying. She's laughing or pouting. Luckily for us, it's usually the firsts.
She has a sweet smile and a hilarious fake laugh. She loves to jump and run and be part of everything.
This is just such a fun and funny age! I love it! ♥
Thursday, October 27, 2011
Flashback: Halloween 2006
Halloween is right around the corner and it occurs to me that I've never posted pictures of Hannah's first Halloween. I started this blog shortly after that and so I never went back and shared these, even though they are quite adorable. So, here we go, flashback to Halloween 2006!
Rob and Hannah in her cute kitty costume:
She had literally JUST learned to sit (tri-pod style!) within a day or two before this picture was taken. Adorable:
Grandma and Hannah with her cute pumpkin hat:
Too cool for fall:
Rob and Hannah in her cute kitty costume:
She had literally JUST learned to sit (tri-pod style!) within a day or two before this picture was taken. Adorable:
Grandma and Hannah with her cute pumpkin hat:
Too cool for fall:
Spooky Snoopy doesn't scare her:
Showing off her new brick at Grandma & Grandpa Jordan's house:
It came with a little stuffed fish bone in the pocket:
Over at Gigi & Great Grandpa Guyon's for some trick-or-treating:
And now at Great Grandma & Grandpa Jordans for some more trick-or-treating:
With her pumpkin:
Friends Bryn the Monkey and Ravage the Super Dog:
With Grandma and Grandpa Guyon:
With our breastfeeding support group friends:
What an adorable little kitty:
Hard to believe this was 5 years ago!
Wednesday, October 26, 2011
Tying Times And Sight Words: Round Three
We have been working on tying shoes for a while now. At first, Hannah was interested but not really able to hold the strings correctly. That was last year and we sort of diverted her attention because she was getting frustrated. Recently. she has started asking about it again so we tried again. It took a month or two but she has finally mastered it!
Amazing accomplishments!
I was just going to do a few pictures but she wanted me to take a video too:
In other news, she now counts to 100 with no errors every time and she has mastered a new set of sight words: look, she, little, do, has, was, what, this, here, he, and, said.
Amazing accomplishments!
Thursday, October 20, 2011
Hannah's First Report Card and Parent-Teacher Conferences
Yesterday, Hannah got her first report card and today was parent-teacher conferences. Hannah's report card looked great. She got all 3s and 4s, except she got a 2 for knowing her birthday (she knows her bday but I never taught her the year) and a 1 for tying shoes (she is actually close to mastering this but the teacher just asked them and if they said "no" the teacher didn't even evaluate it and just wrote down a 1). I can't say I completely get why they are grading things they don't teach but it's not really that important, just strange to me. Anyway, the legend with the report card says 4 is perfect, 3 is very good, 2 is good, and 1 is needs improvement.
Mare was able to come over and watch the kids so I could go to the parent-teacher conference in this morning. I sat down with the teacher and discussed her report card (no concerns) and how kindergarten was going in general. She said Hannah is a model student and the most polite child she has ever met. I couldn't be more proud! She also said Hannah is doing very well in math and even better in reading. She showed me some scores and then outlined how she will help to continue to make Hannah's kindergarten experience challenging and enjoyable for her. She is going to pull out a few kids, Hannah included, to get extra reading time in the advanced books during some of computer lab. She is also giving an extra math workbook to Hannah so that when she completes her normal work, she can sit and do these extra pages if she wishes. She is also going to speed up the sight words. She said she wants to keep it challenging for the advanced students but tries to make sure she is not pushing and we should do the same. I told her that we do practice the sight words at home but not excessively (5-10 minutes tops), I try to make it fun by making it into games, and if Hannah says she's not in the mood, we skip it that night. Otherwise, the only thing we do at home is read to her. The teacher said that was on target for her recommendations.
The teacher said she is doing great and she is very pleased with her. Us too!
Mare was able to come over and watch the kids so I could go to the parent-teacher conference in this morning. I sat down with the teacher and discussed her report card (no concerns) and how kindergarten was going in general. She said Hannah is a model student and the most polite child she has ever met. I couldn't be more proud! She also said Hannah is doing very well in math and even better in reading. She showed me some scores and then outlined how she will help to continue to make Hannah's kindergarten experience challenging and enjoyable for her. She is going to pull out a few kids, Hannah included, to get extra reading time in the advanced books during some of computer lab. She is also giving an extra math workbook to Hannah so that when she completes her normal work, she can sit and do these extra pages if she wishes. She is also going to speed up the sight words. She said she wants to keep it challenging for the advanced students but tries to make sure she is not pushing and we should do the same. I told her that we do practice the sight words at home but not excessively (5-10 minutes tops), I try to make it fun by making it into games, and if Hannah says she's not in the mood, we skip it that night. Otherwise, the only thing we do at home is read to her. The teacher said that was on target for her recommendations.
The teacher said she is doing great and she is very pleased with her. Us too!
Friday, October 14, 2011
Sight Words: Round Two
Moving right along - Hannah passed these sight words today:
for
on
is
have
you
if
in
to
are
play
an
She is easily recognizing and reciting these words when seeing them in stories and individually. Her reading is really coming along. I'm impressed with how much she has taken off, even just since school began. Great job Hannah!
for
on
is
have
you
if
in
to
are
play
an
She is easily recognizing and reciting these words when seeing them in stories and individually. Her reading is really coming along. I'm impressed with how much she has taken off, even just since school began. Great job Hannah!
Cute Hair!
Finally enough hair to put up!
Hailey looking so cute with her pigtails:
And not to be left out, Hannah with her ponytail:
Having girls is so much fun!
My Two Joys
It continues to amaze me how God gave me these two wonderful, yet different, little girls. There are some ways they are similiar: they are both sweet, happy, helpful, loving, and affectionate. Here are my favorite different things about each of them:
Hannah: She is my blonde haired blue eyed one. She looks like a lot like Rob but has a very simliar personality to myself. She makes friends easily. She shows deep concern and empathy for those around her. She is sensitive and determined. She is talkative and quick to praise others. She thinks through situations and makes careful conlusions. When it comes to academics, she learns new things quickly and easily. She studies the world around her, articulates her thoughts well, and is endlessly inquisitive. She follows rules and directions. She is sincere.
Hannah: She is my blonde haired blue eyed one. She looks like a lot like Rob but has a very simliar personality to myself. She makes friends easily. She shows deep concern and empathy for those around her. She is sensitive and determined. She is talkative and quick to praise others. She thinks through situations and makes careful conlusions. When it comes to academics, she learns new things quickly and easily. She studies the world around her, articulates her thoughts well, and is endlessly inquisitive. She follows rules and directions. She is sincere.
Hailey: She is my brown haired hazeled eyed one. She has many of my features but she is very much a mesh of both Rob and I in looks and personality. She loves laughing. She plays and shares well with others. She charges head-first into situations, showing no fear. She is adventurous and tries everything. She is silly and loyal. She can be fiercely independent. She offers comfort to those that are sad. She excels at all things physical and masters them with little effort. She understands well, listens intently, and finds joy in the world around her. She loves to show others the things she enjoys.
I always thought I wanted kids to be a certain way but now I just see all these wonderful things about each of them - wonderful in ways I never imagined. Funny how they can be so different and I can love them both so completely. ☺
Thursday, October 13, 2011
Sports Of All Sorts
For Hannah's birthday, Grammy and Grampy paid for some gymnastics lessons. We had been so busy with summer fun and then the start of school that we just now got around to starting those lessons. We didn't have a leotard for the very first lesson (I wasn't sure what they were supposed to wear) but we bought one the next day. Here she is at her first lesson on Monday:
I am sitting on an observation deck so the pictures came out a little fuzzy but here she is trying on the high bar:
Ah, a fine example of "practice":
I am sitting on an observation deck so the pictures came out a little fuzzy but here she is trying on the high bar:
And working on the low bar:
Hailey has also been involved in a sport this fall through her playgroup. She has been playing soccer. And by playing soccer, I mean that the kids run and kick the ball for the first 5 minutes or so and then they all go do their own thing because they are 2. The shirts are still cute though (and it's free, so you can't beat the chance to run off some energy):
Ah, a fine example of "practice":
Hey at least they are holding balls, even if they aren't soccer balls:
Yep, this is what we do during soccer time:
Both kids are really enjoying their new sports!
A Milestone In The Making
Hannah has her first loose tooth! She bit into an apple and came to tell me her tooth hurt. It is her bottom right (from her perspective) tooth and it is pretty loose - she can definitely move it around easily. I have heard it can take a bit to come out once it is loose, but pictures to come, once it's gone!
Tuesday, October 11, 2011
2.5 Years
I can't believe how big Hailey is getting - can she really be 2.5? She's got such a little personality now. She can be fiercely independent, demanding to do things over (such as shutting the door and strapping her top strap) by herself. She shows strong perferences, such as wanting to only watch "The Aristocats" over and over again. She usually plays and shares well. She is affectionate and sweet and still very much a mama's girl. She eats anything you put in front of her, but it is difficult to get her to eat more than a few bites before she is down from the table and running off. I love watching her run, play, and explore.
She had her 2.5 year appointment last week and she was 28.6lbs and 36 inches. They measured wrong - I measured her for her costume last week and she was 37 inches - but with everything else going on at this appointment, her height was the least of my concerns. As I have posted on here, we have been battling eczema. Not having dealt with this condition before (and with no friends who have dealt with it either), I figured everyone who had eczema just had a bad case of it. Still, I bumped up her 2.5 year appointment from this week to last week because I was getting concerned. She wasn't sleeping well and it continued to get worse. I tried everything they had told us but nothing was helping so that's why I bumped up the appointment. The doctor was not happy when we got there. She said that was the worst case of eczema she'd seen in 5 years. Basically, she made me feel even more awful than I already felt about her eczema, even though I have been doing my best to battle it back all summer long with little to no help or instruction. The allergist says one thing, the pediatrician says another, and neither tell me what to do in between these bad patches. It's beyond frustrating and then getting treated like a bad parent for not bringing her in sooner (we had just been at the allergist, by the way) was even more frustrating. After conveying this all to the pediatrician, she did soften, but I still spent the rest of the appointment feeling horrible that I didn't realize how bad it was. We made an appointment with a dermatologist and then she gave me very specific instructions on how to battle the eczema back, which I appreciated. She also gave us 4 medications to help. I hate medicating my 2 year old but she is miserable and this is a short-term solution until we talk to the dermatologist. Hopefully the dermatologist will have some new ideas.
At this appointment, we also talked about Hailey's speech, which is borderline. She is being recommended to First Steps to see if she qualifies for speech therapy. I hear her do things like count to 10 (minus 7) and I think I'm over-reacting. Then I hear other kids at playgroup talk and I'm concerned again. I think the referral came in part from Hailey spending the entire appointment talking to herself in jibberish and in part because I hesitated when she asked if I could understand 75% of what Hailey says. Either way, I suppose it can't help to check her out so we will be making an appointment for that soon.
The last concern for this visit was night terrors. I think Hailey has been having them - 4 or 5 times now she has woken up just screaming inconsolably with her eyes closed. Trying to soothe her makes it worse as she is shrieking and thrashing. The only thing that works is to get her to open her eyes by standing her up. Once we do that, she immediately snaps out of it. The doctor agreed that it sounded like night terrors and said that if it became an every night thing, we should start interrupting her sleep an hour past bedtime. Hopefully it doesn't get to that point.
Other than all the concerns, the doctor was very impressed with her physical abilities, both gross motor and fine motor. She was also impressed that Hailey is daytime potty trained and how she eats. I was hoping for a little bit better news when it came to my concerns but we are on the path to help and this appointment was a good first step!
She had her 2.5 year appointment last week and she was 28.6lbs and 36 inches. They measured wrong - I measured her for her costume last week and she was 37 inches - but with everything else going on at this appointment, her height was the least of my concerns. As I have posted on here, we have been battling eczema. Not having dealt with this condition before (and with no friends who have dealt with it either), I figured everyone who had eczema just had a bad case of it. Still, I bumped up her 2.5 year appointment from this week to last week because I was getting concerned. She wasn't sleeping well and it continued to get worse. I tried everything they had told us but nothing was helping so that's why I bumped up the appointment. The doctor was not happy when we got there. She said that was the worst case of eczema she'd seen in 5 years. Basically, she made me feel even more awful than I already felt about her eczema, even though I have been doing my best to battle it back all summer long with little to no help or instruction. The allergist says one thing, the pediatrician says another, and neither tell me what to do in between these bad patches. It's beyond frustrating and then getting treated like a bad parent for not bringing her in sooner (we had just been at the allergist, by the way) was even more frustrating. After conveying this all to the pediatrician, she did soften, but I still spent the rest of the appointment feeling horrible that I didn't realize how bad it was. We made an appointment with a dermatologist and then she gave me very specific instructions on how to battle the eczema back, which I appreciated. She also gave us 4 medications to help. I hate medicating my 2 year old but she is miserable and this is a short-term solution until we talk to the dermatologist. Hopefully the dermatologist will have some new ideas.
At this appointment, we also talked about Hailey's speech, which is borderline. She is being recommended to First Steps to see if she qualifies for speech therapy. I hear her do things like count to 10 (minus 7) and I think I'm over-reacting. Then I hear other kids at playgroup talk and I'm concerned again. I think the referral came in part from Hailey spending the entire appointment talking to herself in jibberish and in part because I hesitated when she asked if I could understand 75% of what Hailey says. Either way, I suppose it can't help to check her out so we will be making an appointment for that soon.
The last concern for this visit was night terrors. I think Hailey has been having them - 4 or 5 times now she has woken up just screaming inconsolably with her eyes closed. Trying to soothe her makes it worse as she is shrieking and thrashing. The only thing that works is to get her to open her eyes by standing her up. Once we do that, she immediately snaps out of it. The doctor agreed that it sounded like night terrors and said that if it became an every night thing, we should start interrupting her sleep an hour past bedtime. Hopefully it doesn't get to that point.
Other than all the concerns, the doctor was very impressed with her physical abilities, both gross motor and fine motor. She was also impressed that Hailey is daytime potty trained and how she eats. I was hoping for a little bit better news when it came to my concerns but we are on the path to help and this appointment was a good first step!
Monday, October 10, 2011
Pumpkin Patch
As our annual tradition, we went to Waterman Farms Pumpkin Patch with mom and my grandparents. This year, Rob was even able to join us because he had off Columbus Day. The first thing the kids did as we walked in was to immediately crawl through the hay maze. Rob followed them in because Hailey was afraid but wanted to go. They managed to keep from getting too lost:
The rest of us waited at the end:
Hailey really enjoyed standing (and jumping) off the hay:
We got our pictures taken as animals:
While I was doing that, the llama got a little too pushy with Hannah so I had to go comfort her and reasssure her that they wouldn't hurt her:
Our family on the hayride back:
So much fun, as always!
The rest of us waited at the end:
They climbed the hay pile next:
And all of us tried our hand at the corn maze:
Hailey really enjoyed standing (and jumping) off the hay:
And sometimes sliding off too:
And even just running around in it:
We got our pictures taken as animals:
We even convinced grandma, grandpa, and mom to get in on it:
The kids really wanted to ride the horses but they were not doing pony rides that day so we decided to feed the animals at the petting zoo instead:
I had to help Hailey a little so the animals didn't overwhelm her:
While I was doing that, the llama got a little too pushy with Hannah so I had to go comfort her and reasssure her that they wouldn't hurt her:
And she went back to feeding the animals happily:
We played a game or two to win some little stuffed fish (that I'm sure would have cost a nickel instead of the dollar we paid but the girls were so happy to have won) and then decided to go get our pumpkins. Here we are on the hay ride out:
Daddy being funny:
And we finally arrived. Hannah ran into the field to begin looking:
After a few minutes, we picked the perfect pumpkins:
Our family on the hayride back:
A final family shot before leaving:
So much fun, as always!
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